Alabama Football 2026: Meet the New Wide Receivers

At the conclusion of the 2025 season, Alabama lost nearly their entire position group at wide receiver. Starters Ryan Williams and Lotzeir Brooks both return, but the Tide also lost Germie Bernard and Isaiah Horton, plus a whole slew of reserves.

With that, there is plenty of room in the depth chart for new players to step up into the two deep, and Alabama had to go out and recruit heavily to fill the roster – both from the high school ranks and the transfer portal. No matter how it shakes out, the Tide’s pass catching production is going to look very different next year. And today, we’ll take a closer look at all of the newcomers.

If you missed the earlier pieces, check out the central stream for this Meet the New Guys Series, and follow along as we keep going through the position groups this offseason. As always, all of the player rankings and sizes in this article are from the 247Sports Composite for consistency, though I will mention it if On3 or ESPN have something very different.

Amari Sabb

• Position: ATH
• Stars: 3
• Hometown: Glassboro, NJ
• National Rank: 1700
• Position Rank: 121
• Height: 5’9”
• Weight: 155

Amari Sabb is the younger brother of current Alabama starting safety, Keon Sabb. He’s also the older brother of 2027 5-star wide receiver, Xavier Sabb. So for the Tide, bringing in Keon as a depth piece for a position that desperately needs depth while also serving as a recruiting draw for a top target in the next cycle is a win-win that makes a lot of sense. He’s listed as an athlete that also played running back and defensive back in high school, but has said that Alabama wants him as a slot receiver. At only 155 pounds, he’s definitely too light to play on defense, and will have to add a bit of size even at WR. Sabb will be joining Alabama over the summer.

Playstyle

Sabb is more of a ball carrier than he is a wide receiver at this point. With the ball in his hands, he’s got as quick of a burst as you’ll see, and weaves all over the field like he’s being controlled by someone playing a Madden game that REALLY likes using the spin button and juke stick. Sabb will make most anyone miss one on one in the open field and turn any given play into a race.

That said, he also rarely breaks tackles if someone manages to get their hands on him, will never run through someone, and also has a tendency to take some risks going backwards where he may not have the pure speed to pull it off at the college level.

As an actual receiver, he has very little in his route tree other than screens or going in a straight line for a fade, so he has a ways to go to be a true slot receiver. Still, he’s weirdly good at adjusting to poorly thrown balls or making last second catches off of tipped balls. It’s the kind of hand-eye coordination and concentration that isn’t the most learnable thing, so that is a cool skill that many don’t have and could be something he can build on.

To say it, I also think he’s a legitimately good man cover corner. He’s sticky and, even more impressive, extremely decisive when he breaks on receivers. Again, while his small size will make him a liability in the run game and tackling, I wouldn’t fully count him out of eventually getting bigger and swapping to defense.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

Sabb is likely never going to be more than a gadget player on offense. Now, Ryan Grubb does have a spot for a gadget guy in his scheme, as Germie Bernard did plenty of that last year as well as playing as an actual receiver. So I wouldn’t fully rule him out of never getting playing time. Still, I think he has quite a ways to go in terms of both physical development and playing as a receiver rather than just a ball carrier.

One caveat, though, is that I think he could have shot as a kick returner. His skillset is geared towards those long developing, open field plays, and he can make anyone miss and weave his way across a field. Even then, though, we don’t know how he is at the whole “catching of the punts” thing

Maurice Mathis

• Position: WR
• Stars: 3
• Hometown: Warner Robbins, GA
• National Rank: 506
• Position Rank: 73
• Height: 6’1”
• Weight: 180

On3/Rivals views Mathis as a 4-star player, while both 247 and ESPN have him as a 3 star. He was originally a Samford Bulldog commit, but Alabama started recruiting him late and he signed with the Tide in January. He’s an interesting recruit, as he was barely recruited despite putting up two 1000 yard seasons in southern Georgia 5A ball.

Playstyle

Mathis is a much more polished wide receiver than you’d expect from someone that we barely heard about as he was recruited. He mostly lines up as an outside X receiver and is a deadly deep threat due to his length, stride, and, most importantly, a phenomenal release. He fires off the line with a jab step that, to be honest, is more powerful and professional looking than I saw from any of Alabama’s receivers last year. On top of that, he doesn’t waste steps as a route-runner and has a nice feel for subtly making slight movements to get defenders on one shoulder or the other and then cutting away from them down the field to create a lot of space.

As a catcher, I did see some body catches across the middle, but I also saw him snag a couple of slants that were high out of the air from right in front of a defender, and he made some seriously impressive over-the-shoulder catches, including a one-hander in the back of the endzone.

I think that Mathis can very much be a “QB’s best friend” kind of receiver that just always creates more open space for himself and makes is very easy to throw to him.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

I may be going out on a limb on this one, but I think that Mathis may very well wind up being one of my picks for the most underrated players of Alabama’s recruiting class this year. I think he can become a legitimate starting X receiver in the SEC in the future, and I think he’ll be ready sooner than most people will expect. Don’t be surprised if he’s solidly on the 2-deep this year as a true freshman.

Cederian (CD) Morgan

• Position: WR
• Stars: 4
• Hometown: Alexander City, AL
• National Rank: 43
• Position Rank: 5
• Height: 6’4”
• Weight: 210

Hailing from the in-state powerhouse, Benjamin Russell High School, Morgan is a borderline 5-star recruit that’s considered a “freak jumbo athlete” and has drawn all kinds of praise for a smooth and powerful athleticism that I’ve heard compared to a “Cadillac on the field.”

He’s listed as heavy as 220 pounds, has a 34” wingspan, and is a high level track athlete in the high jump and 200 meter dash. He put up over 2500 yards and 30 touchdowns the last two years in Alabama’s 6A high school circuit. He’s also already drawn some comments from both Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubb for how he stood out during bowl game practices as he enrolled early.

Playstyle

Morgan is a fascinating player that uses his size and basketball background to be an absolute monster in jump ball situations, and yet also has the speed to make himself a dangerous deep threat. Imagine being a high school cornerback a 6’4” 220 pound human running full speed straight at you and showing no indications of going to make any attempt to not run you over. Now imagine as soon as you start retreating to make sure he doesn’t go past you… And he immediately puts his hip into your gut and then cuts inside for a deep slant.

That combination of being able to outrun people down the sideline, winning every single jump ball in single or double cover, and being just a massive human gives him the ability to work off of those things and really build a lot of space for himself over the middle, where he then proceeds to truck his way straight through the poor centerfield safety coming up to support.

He’s pretty well unstoppable in the endzone as his team just threw fades to him all season, and his ability to run defenders off of a spot then putting his back to them while also possessing go-go-gadget length arms pretty much just looks like a college basketball center dominating a game against a bunch of church-league hoopers.

Oh, and he blocks on the perimeter like the man across from his insulted his entire family.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

Morgan can play both outside and slot receiver, and he’s the kind of guy that will make any scheme work. He’s a deep threat, a middle of field monster, a jump ball specialist, and a YAC guy all built into one. He’ll likely have a little bit of an adjustment to having to learn that SEC defensive backs aren’t going to be pushed around as easily as high schoolers were, but that kind of size, speed, and body control is still something of a unicorn at even the college and pro levels.

It’s hard to see any world where Morgan isn’t in the rotation for Alabama this year, and likely one of the Tide’s top 4 receivers by the end of the season.

Aubrey Walker

• Position: WR
• Stars: 3
• Hometown: Moody, AL
• National Rank: 1542
• Position Rank: 216
• Height: 5’10”
• Weight: 170

Walker was a late addition to the Tide’s recruiting class, committing at the end of January and signing on the February National Signing Day. Walker is an in-state Birmingham guy who grew up a massive Alabama fan, and, oh by the way, he’s got a verified 4.39s forty yard dash under his belt. He’s got the heart and he’s got the speed. What he doesn’t have is the production – only 490 yards last year. Still, he played for Spain Park High before going to Moody High as a senior, where he helped them win the state 5A Championship – so he’s played in a fairly high level of competition.

Playstyle

Straight line speed is pretty much the name to his game at this point. The bulk of his high school production came on him running go-routes or a shallow drag where he could just outrun a man defender to the sideline. His team knew what that kind of speed was good for, and they really leaned into it. Walker also occasionally would use a defender’s respect for his speed against them by cutting off a go-route into a 15-yard hitch to pick up a first down.

Past those things, though, Walker doesn’t have much else to his game yet. His route-running is extremely limited, and even with the ball in his hands, he’s somewhat laborious in short-area situations, taking way too many steps to change directions or stop and accelerate.

As far as hands go, I didn’t see much to make me think there’s any problems, but also didn’t see much to think they are particularly impressive. Most all of his catches in high school were ones where a defender was 10 yards behind him.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

At this point, I see Walker as mostly a practice body at the back end of the depth chart. His speed gives him some potential for being a special teams guy early on (I could definitely see him being a weapon as a punt gunner…. But that’s pure projection on my end). And that kind of speed is definitely something that any college coach would look at and be willing to take a chance on a guy for and hope that they can develop him in a few years.

Noah Rogers

Position: WR

Transfer School: NC State (2024-2025), Ohio State (2023)

Class: Redshirt Junior

Stars: 4 (recruit), 4 (transfer)

Hometown: Rolesville, NC

National Rank: 52 (recruit), 127 (transfer)

Position Rank: 8 (recruit), 32 (transfer)

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 205

Rogers was a borderline 5-star recruit in 2023 (On3 had him as a 5-star and a top-30 recruit) who signed with Ohio State. For whatever reason, that didn’t work out for him after a redshirt first year, and he transferred back close to home to NC State. Over the next two seasons, he put up back to back years with 400+ receiving yards, and pulling in 12.4% of the Wolfpack’s target share the last two seasons, second only to their tight end. He’s dropped 7 passes on his 100 total targets, and has generally lined up as an outside receiver, rarely in the slot.

In high school, he ran a verified 4.49s forty yard dash, so he’s got good speed to go along with an impressive frame.

Playstyle

Rogers is a really high-level collegiate athlete. He’s a smooth and powerful runner who is capable of dusting defenders on a go-route, but he’s also got impressive acceleration to make things happen on screen passes, and can power his way through tacklers and even has one open-field hurdle highlight to his name (one where he cleared the guy and kept running… Not one where they immediately fall down.).

The Wolfpack used him often as a deep ball guy (particularly on deep posts), but he ran a full route-tree for them and has catches at most every level of the field – slants, screens, drags, and digs, mostly. Essentially, he seemed to do most of his damage lining up outside and then working towards in-breaking routes.

His after the catch ability is impressive to say the least, and he can really do some damage on screens with his acceleration and size. And then down the field, he’s got a good feel for getting under deep shots and excels at timing his jumps to get in front of defenders and come down with high floating balls.

He did have some issues with drops last year (5), and it seems to mostly come from a tendency to catch underhanded over the middle… And then jumping if the ball is too high to catch underhanded. It’s a similar issue to what Ryan Williams has dealt with at Alabama.

Finally, Rogers also played plenty on special teams as a gunner, so he may contribute there.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

Make no mistake, Rogers was brought in to be a starter and to replace Isaiah Horton as an outside receiver. He’s a high level athlete with plenty of experience as a starting P4 wide receiver, despite his somewhat depressed stats from playing on a low-volume passing offense. I suspect he’ll, in name, be the Z receiver for the Tide, though Ryan Grubb tends to shift his receivers around quite a bit, so it’s not the most prescriptive name. Still, Rogers is very similar scheme fit to WRs that Grubb and Kalen DeBoer had at Washington, so I expect he’ll fit right in with this offense as a primarily downfield threat and a screen guy.

I think it’s fair to expect 50+ targets and 500+ yards for him this year.

Tyler Henderson

• Position: WR
• Stars: 3 (JUCO)
• Hometown: Vicksburg, MS
• Junior College: Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C.
• National Rank: 89
• Position Rank: 15
• Height: 6’1”
• Weight: 175

Henderson put up over 1200 yards for MGCCC last year on his way to All-American status and will be coming to Alabama as a junior. He was originally committed to play for Kennesaw State, but for some reason, a few P4 programs noticed him and started recruiting him in January before he wound up signing with Alabama.

Playstyle

Henderson is an intriguing prospect to me. In terms of his body type and movement style, he reminds me a lot of former Alabama receivers DeAndrew White and DeVonta Smith (obviously, please don’t put Smitty-level expectations on him because I said that). He’s slight of frame, but plays much bigger than that. He’s something of a contested catch aficionado – coming up with all kinds of tough catches in traffic, on fades, up against the sideline, and he’ll lay out and dive for anything.

He’s got good speed and will occasionally just zoom past everyone, plus his team would often use him on shallow drags and speed sweeps to take advantage of that speed. After he catches the ball, he’s weirdly difficult to tackle, too. He’ll secure the catch and then pinball off of a defender, often going for a spin and slipping out of the first tackle. Then once he’s wrapped, he’ll start hopping to try to break free and often gets extra yards that way… And again, he’ll make a last ditch dive for extra yards when the defenders think they have him stood up.

He’s got a unique route-running style, too. He’ll often do a slight delay on his release with high exaggerated head fakes, and it makes him exceptionally tough to guard on slant routes, as defenders tend to bite on thinking he’s going for an outside fade release.

Scheme Fit and Prediction

Despite mostly playing as an outside receiver, I do wonder if Henderson could wind up being more of a slot player. His ability to make contested catches, his quick inside releases, and his ability to always find a way for a few extra yards could make him a really useful piece as a guy who just moves the chains when the QB is in trouble.

I do think he has some trouble separating at the top of his routes, and that, combined with a slight frame, will place some limitations to his game. But I could definitely see him being solidly in that second tier on the two-deep as the backup slot receiver and a guy that gets 15-20 targets this year, including making a couple of critical catches for the Tide at some random moments.